Apparatus for cutting tubes



We 4 J. L. ANDERSON 73,559

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TUBES Filed April 22, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 4 JAMES L. ANDERSON ATTORNEY June 2H, H949. J. L. ANDERSON 2,473,559

' APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TUBES Filed April 22, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JAMES L. ANDERSON ATTORNEY June 21, 194. J. L. ANDERSON 2,473,559

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TUBES Filed April 22, 1942 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR JAMES L. ANDERSON vFW/L 110m 39? June 21, 19 49;. J; ANDERSON 2,473,559

APPARATUS FOR cuwrma TUBES Filed April 22, 1942 EH55 Q7. "a I 5 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 smog mas .auosnson ATTORNEY Patented June 21, 1949 2.413.559 armaa'ros son corms TUBES James L. Anderson,

Closter, n. 1., asslgn'or to Air Reduction Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 22, 1342, Serial No. 440,049

Claims. (01. 29-09) This invention relates predetermined lengths denser tubes.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved apparatus of the class wherein tubing comes from a welding machine, and passes through a straightening machine at a continuous rate, and is cut up into desired lengths by a cutting device such as a flying saw.

The improvements relate particularly to a simplified structure for synchronizing the operation of the welding, straightening. and cutting means; and to improved automatic cut-off apparatus for severing lengths from a continuously moving tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide apparatus suitable for high-speed work so that relatively short lengths can be cut from a rapidly moving tube.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the specification proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof:

Fig. l. is a diagrammatic, exploded view showing tube-making apparatus embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the cut-off machine that is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the cut-off machine that is shown in Fig. 2.

1 Fig. 5 is an end view of shown in Fig. 2.

Figs. 6 and 7 are enlarged sectional views taken on the lines 3-3 and 'i-l of Fig. 5, respectively.

Figs. 8 and 9 are end views of the cam structure shown in Fig. 7 with the movable portion of the cam in different positions in the difierent views.

A portion of a welding machine is shown in Fig. 1 including the end of a multi-jet tip it) which heats the seam edges of a tube It progressively as the tube, preferably formed from a continuous or long length strip, advances through the welding machine at a constant rate. The seam edges are to apparatus for making of tubing, such as conthe cut-off machine connected to shafts I3 and I4. Both of these shafts are driven, the shaft i3 by bevel gearing l6 from a power shaft ii, and the lower shaft l4 by gears l8, l9 that transmit rotation of the upper shaft E3 to the lower shaft i 4. The shaft I1 is driven by an electric motor 2i through a belt 22 that transmits motion from a pulley on the motor armature shaft to a pulley secured to the shaft IT.

The welded tube ll comes from the powerdriven weldingrolls l2 into the first roll pass of a straightening machine. This first roll pass is formed by power driven rolls 24 on shafts 25, 28 that are driven from the power shaft l1 by gearing similar to that which transmits motion to the welding rolls l2. 1

'- brought together by welding rolls H which are 2 A second roll pass of the straightening machine is formed by rolls 28 thatare similar to the rolls 24 and similarly driven from the power shaft ll. A roll 23 in contact with the run of tube between the passes defined by rolls 24 and by rolls 28 straight'ens the continuously moving tube II in a manner well understood in the art.

After passing the rolls 28, the tube I l comes to a flying saw that has a guide 3| through which the tube passes, and a guide support comprising a lever 32 fulcrumed on a carriage 33. This carriage is reciprocated back and forth and that cuts lengths from the tube I during forward movement of the carriage and while the carriage is traveling at substantially the same speed as the tube II.

speed end of the variable-speed transmission 42 through a chain 45 which extends around a sprocket as on the power shaft H. The transmission 42 can be adjusted by a hand wheel 4'! to give any desired speed ratio within a limited range. Slack in the chain 40 can be taken up by an adjustable idler 33 connected to a stationary part of the frame of the apparatus.

When the apparatus is to be adjusted to cut longer lengths, the transmission 42 is adjusted so as to reduce the speed of rotation of the disk 36 with respect to the speed of the power-driven rolls i2, 28, and 28 which feed the tube to the guide 3| in which the tube is cut. Such an adjustment permits a greater length of tube to pass for each full stroke of the carriage 33.

Since the speed of the tube is constant and the carriage 33 should be traveling at substantially tube speed at the time of cutting, provision is made to prevent a slower speed of the disk 36 from reducing the lineal speed of the carriage 33 at the time of cutting. In the preferred embodiment of the invention the wrist pin 35 is made adjustable to change its eccentricity on the disk 36 and thereby change the length of the stroke of the carriage. The apparatus for changing the eccentricity of the wrist pin will be described hereinafter in connection with Fig. 3. Lengthening v e 2,473,559 um'rso srA'ras PATENT OFFICE carries a saw the invention there are four wheels 54 (Fig. 2)

,on each side of the carriage, two of the wheels being located above the track tube 5| and two below. These wheels have grooved faces that fit the track tubes, and thus the wheels 54 prevent displacement of the carriage 33 in every direction except lengthwise of the track.

The length of the stroke of the carriage 33 as it is reciprocated back and forth along the track 5| can be regulated by adjusting the eccentricity of the wrist pin 35. The construction by which the wrist pin 35 is made adjustable toward and from the axis of the shaft 81 is shown in Fig. 3. The wrist pin 35 extends from a block 56 that is movable lengthwise in a radial slot 51 in the disk 35 by a lead screw 58. The back of the slot is covered by a plate 69 that is attached to the disk by screws.

The purpose of the radial adjustment of the wrist pin 35 is to change the speed of the carriage. For equal speeds of rotation of the disk 36, the further the wrist pin 35 is from the center of rotation of the disk, the higher will be the maximum, i. e. the mid-stroke, speed of the carriage.

' The eccentricity adjustment of the wrist pin 35 is limited to a relatively short part of the radius of the disk, and for speed adjustments of large proportions the speed ratio of the transmission 42 (Fig. 1) is changed. The transmission 42 can be adjusted to obtain the approximate carriage speed desired and the lead screw 58 (Fig. 3) then adjusted to make the mid-stroke speed of the carriage correspond accurately to the rate of travel of the tube. I

The tube guide 3| is at the top of a lever 32 that extends downward and is supported by a shaft 62 (Fig. 5) which is connected to the carriage 33 by a bracket 63. A roller 64 at the bottom of the lever 32' extends into a slot in a cam 66 supported from a stationary part of the frame of the machine by a bracket 61.

A cut-off tool, preferably a disk saw 68 on the end of the armature shaft of a motor 69, is supported on the carriage 33. The housing of the motor 68 moves as a unit with the carriage 33 but is adjustable transversely of the carriage by a lead screw 'Il turned by a knob 12. The guide 3| is made in two sections that are spaced from one another to leave a clearance or slot I3 (Fig. 4) through which the saw 68 can sever the tube while the tube is passing through the guide 3|. As the carriage 33 moves forward (to the right in Fig. 4) the speed of the carriage, and of the guide 3| that moves with the carriage, increases to a maximum at the mid-point of the carriage stroke. Severed lengths of tube rest on an extension 14 of the tube guide 3| and are pushed forward from this guide extension 14 by the advancing tube I I.

As the carriage 33 and tube guide 3| pass through this mid-stroke region, the roller 64 (Fig. 5) is displaced to the right and the lever 32 rocked counter-clockwise to move the guide 3| to the left and bring the tube against the saw. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the upper end of the lever 32 is longer than the lower so that the displacement of the guide 3| .to bring the tube against the saw is greater than the throw of the cam. The use of a cam having a groove in which the cam-follower roller runs provides a positive displacement of the tube guide away from the saw, as well as towards it, and makes possible a faster operation, that is, more strokes, than could be satisfactorily obtained with an ordinary one-way displacement cam.

The cam 66 is shown in plan view in Fig. 7. It consists of two parts, a stationary bar 15 and a rod 16 that is held against all movement, except rotation, by bearing 11 which hold the ends of the rod. The rod 15 is of circular cross-section except at its mid-portion where an insert 18 is fastened to the rod by screws 18. This insert extends beyond the periphery of the rod 16 and serves as the high point of the cam. The space between the bar 15 and rod 16 is the groove of the cam and there is a recess in the bar 15 opposite the insert 18 so that the width of the groove is substantially uniform throughout the length of the cam. The groove is, of course, as long as the maximum stroke that the reciprocating apparatus can be adjusted to make, but since the insert I8 is in the middle of the stroke the relative time of cutting is not affected by change in the length of stroke.

It is essential that the cam 66 does not displace the roller 64 during the return stroke of the carriage, that is, when the carriage is moving toward the left and in the opposite direction to the movement of the tube II. In order to render the cam 66 inoperative during .the return stroke of the carriage, the rod 16 is turned 90 from the position shown in Fig. 8 to the position shown in Fig. 9. This quarter-turn of the rod I6 is effected between the time that the roller 64 passes the insert 18 on the forward stroke and the time that the roller reaches the insert on the return stroke. The rod 16 is turned by a crank 8| that is secured to one end of the rod.

The crank 8| is connected to a link 82 (Fig. 4) that extends across the machine to one end of a bell-crank 83 pivotally connected to the stationary frame of the machine. The other end of the bell-crank is connected by a link 84 with a lever 85, best shown in Fig. 2. The lever 85 rocks about a pivot 86 on the fixed frame of the machine.

There is a cam-follower comprising a roller 81 at the upper end of the lever 85 and this roller extends into a groove 88 in the face of a cam 88 secured to the shaft 31. The cam groove 68 is shown in Fig. 6 and is of such shape that the motion which it imparts to the roller 81 and to the links 84 and 82 causes the crank 8| to move in the desired relation with the reciprocations of the carriage 33.

Various changes and modifications can be made in the preferred embodiment of the invention, and some features can be used without others, without departing from the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. Tube-cutting apparatus including a flying saw, a first-class lever having a long upper arm and ashorter lower arm, said lever being movable'about a fulcrum that moves lengthwise of the tube as an element of the flying saw, and the axis of which extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tube, a tube guide supported at the upper end of the lever, a camfollower on the lower end of the lever, and a stationary cam extending generally lengthwise of the direction of movement of the tube and having a cam slot into which the follower extends.

2. Cut-off apparatus including a rotary saw, a carriage supporting the saw, mechanism for reciprocating the carriage in the direction in which the aXis of rotation of the saw extends, a tube guide through which a continuously moving tube travels in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the saw, a lever extending downward from the guide and connected with the carriage by a pivot connection the axis of which is parallel to the axis of the tube. a camfollower roller at the lower end of the lever remote from the tube guide, cam means for displacing the follower at least a portion of which is movable to another position to render the cam means ineffective to so displace the follower, said cam means being adapted before movement of its movable portion to said other position to displace the follower to cause movement of the guide both towards and away from the saw during the time the carriage is moving in thesame direction as the tube, and mechanism for moving said portion of the cam means to said other position when the carriage moves in the opposite tube guide through which. the tube travels, a

lever extending downwardly from the guide and pivotally connected to the carriage, a cam-follower roller at the lower end of the lever, and cam means having a cam surface adapted to be engaged by the said roller during forward movement of the carriage and having a rise and fall over which the roller rides to cause movement of the guide toward and away from the saw during the forward movement of the carriage, and mechanism independent of the carriage for moving said cam surface to a different position so that it will not make contact with said roller during the return movement of the carriage.

7. Apparatus for cutting predetermined lengths from a continuously moving tube comprising. a main framework, a carriage mounted on the framework, a cutting element mounted on the carriage, means forreciprocating the carriage'in the direction of movement of the tube through the apparatus, means for supplying operating power to said reciprocating means, a guide element for supporting the tube during its travel posed beneath the path of the cam roller, means for elevating the profile cam into the path of the cam roller during reciprocation of the car- .riage to tilt the pipe into cutting engagement with the saw, and means for retracting the profile cam from the path of the cam roller after the cutting operation.

4. A machine for severing continuously moving pipe or thelike comprising a frame, a reciprocable carriage on the frame, a saw on the carriage for cutting the pipe, a rocker arm pivoted to the carriage, a guide for the pipe atthe upper end of the rocker arm, a roller on the lower end of the rocker arm, an elevatable cam on the frame, the profile of said cam being in the shape of a reversed curve, means for elevating the cam to make contact with the roller on the forward stroke of the carriage and for lowering the cam out of contact with the roller on the return stroke, driving means actuating the machine adjacent the carriage, a crank arm connected to the driving means, a pitman between the crank arm and the carria e for reciprocating the carriage, and means for synchronizing the elevation of the cam with the reciprocation of the carriage to cut the pipe on-the forward stroke of the carriage. I 5. A machine for severing continuously moving pipe or the like comprising a stationary frame a reciprocable carriage on the stationary frame, a circular saw on the carriage for cutting the pipe, a rocker arm pivoted to the carriage, a guide for supporting the pipe at the upper end of the rocker arm, a roller on the lower end of the rocker arm,- a vertically reciprocable cam on the stationary frame having an outwardly curved face for making contact with the roller to cut the pipe, a motor mounted adjacent to the carriage, gearing driven by said motor; a crank arm actuated by said driven gearing, and a'pitman mounted between the crank arm and the carriage for reciprocating the carriage.

6. Apparatus for cutting predetermined lengths fromv a continuously moving tube comprising a rotary saw, a carriage supporting the saw, mech-.

anism for reciprocating the carriage in the direc-- tion of the longitudinal extent of the tube, a

. main framework. a carriage mounted on the through the apparatus, said guide element being mounted on the carriage for movement toward the cutting element, a shiftable cam-follower movable with the carriage and operatively connected to the guide element to move the guide elementtoward and away from the cutting element, movable cam means having a protruding profile cam surface to engage and shift the shiftable cam-follower, said cam means in one position having its protruding profile cam surface lying in the path of movement of the cam-follower during the forward movement of the carriage so that as the cam-follower rides over said protruding profile cam surface it will be shifted and cause the guide element to move toward the cutting element and in another position having its protruding profile cam surface lying out of the path of movement of the cam-follower, during return movement of the carriage, mechanism mounted on a stationary portionof the framework for moving said cam means to its aforesaid positions and for holding the cam means substantially stationary when said protruding profile cam surf-ace is in the path of movement of the cam-follower and the cam-follower is riding thereover, said mechanism including means synchronizing the movement of the cam means with the reciprocation of the carriage and operatively connected to the means for supplying operating power to the reciprocating means, and means mounted on the apparatus and operative, after the cam-follower has ridden over the protruding profile cam surface, to exert a force on the cam-follower to cause the guide element to move away from the cutting element.

8. Apparatus for cutting predetermined lengths from a continuously moving tube comprising a framework, a cutting element mounted on the carriage. means for reciprocating the carriage in the direction of movement of the tube through the apparatus. means for supplying operating power to said reciprocating means; a guide element on the carriage for supporting the tube during its travel through the apparatus,'a shiftable cam-follower movable with the carriage and operatively connected to one of said elements to cause relative movement of said elements transversely of the direction of movement of the tube through the apparatus, movable cam means hav- 7 ing a protruding profile cam surface toengage and shift the shiftable cam-follower, said cam means in one position having its protruding profile cam surface lying in the path of movement of the cam-follower during the forward movement of the carriage so that as the cam-follower rides over said protruding profile cam surface it will be shifted and cause relative movement of the cutting element and guide element toward each other and in another position having its protruding profile cam surface lying out of the path of movement of the cam-follower during return movement of the carriage, mechanism mounted on a stationary portion of the framework for moving said cam means to its aforesaid positions and for holding the cam means substantially stationary when said protruding profile cam surface is in the path of movement of the cam-follower and the cam-follower i's riding thereover, said mechanism including means I synchronizing the movement of the cam means with the reciprocation of the carriage and being operatively connected to the means for supply! ing operating power to the reciprocating means, and means mounted on the apparatus and operative, after the cam-follower has ridden over the protruding profile cam surface, to exert a force on the cam-follower to causerelative movement of the cutting element andfthe guide element away from each other.

9. Apparatus for cutting predetermined lengths from a continuously moving tube comprising a main' 'framework, a carriage mounted on the framework, a cutting element mounted on the carriage, means for reciprocating the carriage in the direction of movement of the tube through the apparatus, means for supplying operating power to said reciprocating means, means for .varying the speed of reciprocation of the carriage, means for synchronizing the midstroke speed of the carriage with'the speed of the continuously moving tube, a guide element on the carriage for supporting the tube during its travel through the apparatus, a shiftable cam-follower movable with the carriage and operatively connected to one of said elements to cause relative movement of said elements transversely of the direction of movement of the tube through the apparatus, movable cam means having a pro-- truding profile cam surface to engage and shift movement of the carriage, mechanism mounted ona stationary portion of the framework for moving said cam means to its aforesaid positions and for holding the cam means substantially tationary when said protruding profile cam surface is in the path of movement of the camfollower and the cam-follower is riding thereover, said mechanism including means synchroon the carriage, means for reciprocating the carriage in the direction of movement of the tube through .the apparatus, means for supplying operating power to said reciprocating means,- a frame pivotally mounted on the carriage, a guide element mounted on one end of the'frame to support the tube during its travel through the apparatus, a shlftable cam-follower mounted on the other end of said frame, said cam-follower being shiftable to pivot the frame and cause the guide element to move toward and away from the cutting element, movable cam means having a protruding profile cam surface to engage and shift the cam-follower, said cam means in one position having its protruding profile cam surface lying in the path of movement of the cam-follower during the forward movement of the carriage so that as the cam-follower rides over said protruding profile cam surface it will be shifted to pivot the frame and cause the guide element to move toward the cutting element and in another position having its protruding profile cam surface lying out of the path of movement of the cam-follower during return movement of 1 the carriage, mechanism mounted on a station-. ary portion of the framework for moving said cam means to its aforesaid positions and for hold ing the cam means substantially stationary when said protruding profile cam surface is in the path of movement of the cam-follower and the cam-follower is riding thereover, said mechanism including means synchronizing the movement of the cam means with the reciprocation of the carriage and being operatively connected to the means for'supplying operating power to the reciprocating means, and means mounted on the apparatus and operative, after the cam-follower I has ridden over the protruding profile cam surnizing the movement of the cam means with the reciprocation of the carriage and being operatively connected to the means for supplying operating' power to the reciprocating means, and means mounted on the, apparatus and operative. after the cam-follower has ridden over the protruding profile cam surface, to exert aforce face, to exert a force on the cam-follower to pivot the frame and cause the guide element to move away from the cutting element; 3

JAMES L. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

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